Lap 1 Study: Colonies to Constitution-- ACP

How did the first Americans get to the Americas?

Following the herds over the Bering Strait land bridge (b/w Asia and Alaska)

When did they arrive? Why?

They arrive during the Ice Age in search of food, while following the herds.

What determined the lifestyles of Natives in the Western Hemisphere?

The climate

Production of what product most revolutionized life in the early Americas?

Maize a.k.a Corn

Causes: Describe the three major reasons for European exploration

God - spread Christianity (stop the spread of Islam)

Glory - become the best people/ country in the world

Gold - become the richest and most powerful

Tech: Name four new tools which helped Europeans to explore.

• Magnetic compass

• astrolabe

• better sails

• steering rudder

• better maps

How did the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) impact exploration of the Americas?

West of the line = Spain

East of the line = Portugal

• Spain leads massive empire in the Americas (Central/South)

• Portugal gets Brazil

• France/ England reject the Treaty of Tordesillas as they are not a part of it

• Spain not interested in N. America → Europeans more interested in North America

In the Americas, where did the Spanish focus their exploration, why?

Central/ South America

• Gold/ silver

• dense populations suitable for forced labor

• possible religious conversion

Co-op: How did the Col. Exchange impact Europeans + Natives (products…/ effects)

Euros obtained new resources (food) = more people, better health, longer lives, and more specialization

Natives caught European diseases dying off, received new resources (food/cattle)

Conflict: Contrast Spanish, French, English interactions with Natives

Spanish - first on cause of treaty

• cleaning out the

• Taking all their stuff

French - little colonization

• Trade

English - settlement

• moving

Conflict: List several conflicts/ how were Natives defeated by Europeans?

Disease, forced labor (encomienda), forced conversion, warfare…. superior tech. (pew pews, horses, wheels, etc.)

Consequences: How were Native cultures and societies impacted by contact (3+)?

Loss of life, land, and culture

Labor terms: headright systems and indentured servants

Headright - a land grant policy, giving about 50 acres of land to settlers to every person whose trip they paid for.

Indentured Servants - a person who signs a contract to work for another person for a set time in return for food, shelter, clothing, and travel costs

Settlement issues: How did tobacco/ head-rights impact settlement in Virginia?

Tobacco - lots of land was needed to grow tobacco, so settlement was dispersed (plantations)

Headrights - Most of the population was made up of indentured servants, as Virginians could not keep up with the demand and labor of tobacco

Economic issues: Because of tobacco, how were labor shortages solved after 1619?

Shortages of labor were resolved thru immigrants (indentured servants) taken from their land → transported to the Americas.

• Immigrants got a free trip to the New World in return for unpaid labor

Native relations: Describe early Anglo- Native relations in Virginia (conflict+ co-op)

1607 - first ship arrives

• heavliy populated native conferderation

• easy for natives to fight back

Combative

Location issues: How was the climate an issue for settlers in Jamestown (effect)?

Swampy climate → malaria + disease = high mortality

Social issues: What was the effect on Virginia’s population of its male majority?

Swampy climate left little to no Virginians to work on farms, so colony relied on immigrant labor. Most immigrants were young men in order to keep up with labor, so marriage and childbirth was uncommon.

Labor term: Middle Passage (+ and describe characteristics)-

A brutal, forced sea voyage transporting enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to be sold for labor in the Americas.

• Disease and high morality

• Dehumanizing conditions (no windows, no ventilation, no air conditioning)

• Extreme crowding

Economic issues: What was the impact of poor soil on New England’s economy?

• Fishing

• Shipbuilding

• Lumber

• Trade

• SMALL FAMILY FARMS

Economic issues: With a more diverse economy, what was the effect on labor?

Labor consisted of family members rather than indentured servants

Settlement issues: With no cash crops, how were MA settlement patterns different?

People settled in small, condensed communities

Native relations: Describe Anglo- Native relations in New England-

No powerful native confederation

• easier to move in less resistance from the natives (fewer of them)

Social issues: How did a healthy climate and stable families affect Plymouth?

People lived longer lives, give Plymouth has the ability to have stable population growth and they don’t rely on immigration

Contrast the goal of settlers in New England and in Virginia-

New England: Religion

Virginia: Money (growing resources like tobacco)